Convene, founded in 2009, started out as an event-space company and then added flexible offices and coworking spaces.
The company’s CEO told Business Insider it has been profitable every year it’s been in operation except for 2019.
That stands in contrast to rival WeWork, which has drawn criticism for its lack of profitability. It revealed $47 billion in future lease obligations and a nearly $2 billion loss in 2018.
Read all of BI’s WeWork coverage here.

Comparing flex-office companies can be difficult.

“The reality is that if you go under the hood of each of the companies, I think all of us have a different strategy,” Ryan Simonetti, CEO of event and flex-space startup Convene, told Business Insider recently.

Convene, founded in 2009 and last valued at $500 million, started out as an event-space company and then added flexible offices and coworking spaces. Its focus is more on partnering with its own landlords instead of employing traditional leases.

Simonetti talked with Business Insider last week about how his startup and other seemingly similar companies should be categorized, and discussed how Convene has plotted a path to profitability. How to define the flex-space industry has become top-of-mind for potential …read more